05/04/2014

As You Like It

Belvoir, 2011

Photo
by Heidrun Löhr for Belvoir.

Characterised
by a theatrical delight and a rare whimsy which is so often missing in modern
interpretations of Shakespeare, let alone his comedies, Eamon Flack’s As You Like It delighted in the
language, in the words, the rhythms, the theatrical possibilities inherently
written into one of Shakespeare’s greatest tour de force’s of theatrical
disguise. Switching the genders of characters made no difference to the text,
and there was a rambunctious playfulness which even the staunchest purists
would’ve found hard to deny or ignore. When the cast appeared as sheep during
the interval, the theatrical illusion of a pastoral idyll was complete. The
perfect play for summer, it was everything modern Shakespeare should be: smart,
funny, sexy, intelligent, respectful, clever, and above all, thoroughly
Shakespearean.